


Naughty List

by AngelynMoon



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Gen, Naughty/Nice Lists, Post-Rise of the Guardians (2012), Reflection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 18:53:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25970140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelynMoon/pseuds/AngelynMoon
Summary: Jack has been on the Naughty List for 300 years.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 75





	Naughty List

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, this is a result of my brain thinking that if Jack is on Santa's List then he must be considered a Child and what that means.
> 
> As always let me know about tags.

It takes North longer than it should to think about Jack's place on the Naughty List. It is nearly Christmas yet again, the first after Jack joined them as a Guardian and North was checking his Lists.

As he had told Jack when he'd first been brought to the North Pole they were wiping the slate clean.

But as he looks at the name Jack Frost on the Nice list for the first time in 300 years he finds himself frowning, not because Jack is on the Nice List, no, that pleases him, makes joy burst in his heart, no, the reason North frowns is because Jack is on his List at all.

Jack should not be on either of his Lists, for one he is a Spirit, North has no Spirits on his Lists, not even Baby New Year, for two Jack is 300 years old, there is no reason Jack should be on his Lists at all.

Unless...

Jack has been on his Lists for 300 years, always the Naughty List until now but Jack is not a child, except the Lists never lie, not once.

There are, after all several adult aged people still on his Lists because they will never be adults mentally, by birth or circumstance and so on his Lists they remain.

Is that why Jack is on his Lists, because he is forever stuck as a child, frozen in time in both body and mind?

North's eyes linger on the name Jack Frost and he feels cold engulf him.

300 years Jack has been on his Lists.

300 years Jack has held the record for being on the Naughty List.

Any other Child that has a streak of Unbroken years on the Naughty List gets their Behavior Reviewed and if the Yeti's find anything concerning they bring it to North's attention and North then brings it up at the yearly Guardian meeting with Sandy, Tooth, and Bunny and they discuss and Tooth brings out their teeth and they decide whether or not to intervene. They are, after all, the Guardians of childhood, though sometimes they cannot manage in time and the child is never on North's Lists again, no longer a child mentally.

And it appears that they have neglected one child.

For 300 years Jack has been on the Naughty List.

300 years unseen and ignored by humanity.

300 years wilfully ignored by Man in the Moon and the rest of the Spirits.

North rises from his seat and seeks out the Record Keeper for the children's behavior, the books that list each instance of nice deeds or naughty ones, sometimes the good will cancel out the bad and they will still make the Nice List.

He takes Jack's file, which is more of a book than a file, to be expected really after 300 years and begins to read, starting at the beginning as he should have long ago.

The first two pages are things from before Jack became a Spirit, when he was still human. Those pages are filled with the typical behavior of a mischievous child, little trifles that are canceled out by others and therefore earns him a place on the Nice List more often than not, the end of each year is marked with what List Jack had been on and baring the year his sister was born Jack was always on the Nice List, the attempt at giving his sister away earning him a place on the Naughty List that year.

The year Jack became a Spirit is marked only by a change of ink, a silvery blue when it had been green previously, the last thing written in Green is the last thing Jack did before he became a Spirit.

'Saved his sister' follows after 'lied to his sister' and though saving his sister is a big thing it does not quite cancel all of the other tricks Jack played that year.

Below that green lettering are the words Naughty List in silvery blue and as North thumbs over the words he feels the sting of tears in his eyes, knowing that this is only the beginning of Jack's streak and as North reads through the following pages he feels his guilt rising. 

Each year the list instances of Naughty Behavior gets longer and longer, with a smattering of Nice deed scattered here and there but those instances are not enough and the end of each year is marked by the bold letters the say Naughty List.

300 years Jack has been trying to be seen, 300 years he'd been ignored by everyone.

And North can't stop himself from crying when he finds the entry that earned Jack his place on the Naughty List the year of '68.

The entry is bolded and underlined making it clear that this deed was a big thing and North wonders if that was the first time a Spirit hadn't ignored Jack as he reads 'ruined Easter with Blizzard' and North wonders how he could have failed Jack so badly, how they all could have failed him so.

300 years Jack has been on the Naughty List.

300 years he'd been crying out for help.

300 years North had ignored him.

'Am I on the Naughty List?' Jack had asked, eyes wide and grinning.

'You hold record.' North had answered after a laugh.

He should not have laughed.

North closes Jack's Record gently, tucks it close as he leaves the Record room and places it reverently on his desk.

He did not know what to do.

Jack was on the Nice List for the first time in centuries. He would get a present from Santa this year but Jack had long since abandoned sending letters to Santa.

North called for the letter keeper to bring him the few letters Jack had sent. The ones North had never bothered to read with Jack on the Naughty List.

He feels tear falling down his cheeks again as he reads the carefully penned letters.

The ones before Jack had become a Spirit are soft letters asking Santa to give his sister the doll she wanted but wouldn't ask for and for his parents to have enough money to buy new cloth for clothing, an absent mention of how Jack was nearly too big for his pants and needed new ones.

North couldn't recall if he'd given the girl a new doll, he hoped so.

The first one after Jack became a Spirit was different, and the few that followed.

'Can you tell me who I am?' The first one asked.

'Make the Man in the Moon talk to me.' The next one requested.

And more of the same until the very last letter to Santa.

'Please, let someone see me.' It requested, 'I don't want to be alone anymore.'

And North tried not to think about how that last letter was dated for '67.

North held the scrap of paper in his hands and wondered what to do now.

300 years Jack had been on the Naughty List.

300 years he'd been ignored.

300 years he'd been punished for trying to be seen.

North put the letter down and made a decision.

He had 300 years worth of presents to get together.

It would not make up for what was past but hopefully it would be a start.

And perhaps one day Jack would hold the Record for being on the Nice List.

\---

A/n: so this happened..., I don't know guys I figure that North has Yetis that monitor children's behavior and if they have a streak of Naughty List years then as a Guardian of Childhood is their duty to check up on it. With the newer regulations and such for checking up on living situations in the Human world they haven't needed to so much as they used to.

North doesn't really think about Jack's behavior in terms of him being a child crying out for help since he's a Spirit and he's heard rumors of Jack from others and let them color his view.

He's not perfect.

And he shares this with the others and they feel slightly guilty too because they are the Guardians of Childhood and Spirit of not that means Jack fell under their protection and they failed him.


End file.
